سكر الصبا هز قدود الحسان

ام الصبا مالت باغصان بان

Did youth's intoxication sway the figures of the fair,

or did the east wind bend branches of the bān tree?

جلوا رياض الحسن عن أوجه

هن سواء ورياض الجنان

They unveiled gardens of beauty in faces

equal to the gardens of Paradise.

فالوجنة الورد واجفانها

النرجس والمبتسم الاقحوان

Thus the cheek is the rose, and her eyelids

the narcissus, and her smiling mouth the chrysanthemum.

يا من رأى من قبلها جنة

يصلى جحيم الشوق منها الجنان

Oh, who before her ever saw a paradise

from which the heart burns in the hell of longing?

من كل ريا الردف ظمأى الحشا

صامتة الخلخال بكر حصان

Each beauty, full of hip and parched of waist,

silent of anklet, a chaste virgin.

قد ضمنت اعينها فتنتي

وما عليها في دمي من ضمان

Her eyes have guaranteed my bewitchment,

yet they bear no liability for my blood.

يا سعد أيام الصبا خلسة

يسعد فيها كل طلق العنان

O Sa'd, youth's days are a stolen moment,

in which everyone with loosened reins finds joy.

فاغنم لذيذ العيش واشرب على

نبت عذار الحب بنت الدنان

So seize life's sweetness, and drink, gazing upon

the beloved's budding cheek-down, the daughter of the wine-jars.

شقيق حسن قده رمحه

ولحظه منه مكان السنان

Beauty's brother—his slender form is his spear,

and his glance takes the place of its spearhead.

اهيف يثني الدل اعطافه

وماله في ترف الحسن ثان

Slender-waisted, his coy grace bends his supple sides,

and he has no equal in beauty's luxuriance.

ومن معاني اللطف في خده

كل بديع حار فيه البيان

And among the expressions of grace upon his cheek

are all the marvels that leave eloquence bewildered.

اضحى الهوى فني لما غدا

له بانواع الجمال افتنان

Love became my art when he came

to display artistry in beauty's every form.

وبابلي الطرف اجفانه

عن سحر هاروت بها ترجمان

And he of the Babylonian gaze—his eyelids

serve as interpreters of Harut's magic.

إذا مشى ارتج كثيب النفا

وفوقه من شعره ارقمان

When he walks, the sand-dune quivers,

and above it lie two speckled serpents of his hair.

ورب ليل بت اجني به

من روضة الوصل ثمار الأمان

And many a night I spent gathering

from the garden of union the fruits of peace.

غاب رقيبي ولها عاذلي

عني فبتنا منهما في أمان

My watcher was absent, and my reprover was distracted

from me, so we passed the night safe from them both.

يسعى بشمس الراح بدر الدجى

قد قرنا في اللهو أحلى قران

Night's full moon goes about with the sun of wine;

the two have been joined in revelry in the sweetest union.

يزيدها الساقي بالحاظه

سكرا فلحاسي بها نشوتان

The cupbearer, with his glances, increases its

intoxicating power; its sipper thus enjoys two raptures.

لله ما أحسنها ليلة

بأن بها أنسي والهم بان

By God, how beautiful a night it was:

my delight appeared in it, and sorrow departed.

كأنها من حسن إقبالها

ليلة عرس

As though, in the beauty of its arrival,

it were the wedding night

نجل سمى المصطفى المرتضى

قولا وفعلا بالحجا يقرنان

of the son of al-Mustafa's namesake, the Approved One,

whose word and deed are joined with wisdom.

محقق تلقى به المرتضى

حيا مفيداً ظاهرا بالعيان

A rigorous scholar, in whom you find al-Murtada

alive, imparting knowledge, plainly before your eyes.

العالم البحر الذي قد روت

في الفضل عنه فضلاء الزمان

The scholar, the ocean, of whom accounts have been told

concerning excellence by the eminent men of the age.

سام كريم الذكر قد حل من

ذرى المعالي الشم اعلى مكان

Exalted, noble of renown, he has attained, among

the lofty peaks of honor, the highest place.

بحر ندى تطفح أمواجه

بالبر والمعروف والأمتنان

An ocean of generosity whose waves overflow

with goodness, kindness, and gracious favors.

ذو القلم الأعلى الذي ان جرى

زان بدر اللفظ لوح البيان

Master of the loftiest pen, which, when it runs,

adorns the tablet of eloquence with pearls of wording.

بين الخفيات وايضاحها

مقدار ان يمسكه بالبنان

Between hidden matters and their elucidation

lies only the time he takes to grasp it with his fingertips.

ملؤ جفون الناس شمس الهدى

وملؤ أجفان الضيوف الجفان

The sun of guidance fills the eyes of the people,

and serving bowls fill the eyes of the guests.

قال له الله وارشد به

كن علماً بين البرايا فكان

God said to him, and guided through him:

'Be a beacon among humankind,' and so he was.

فقام بالشرع واحكامه

فاستعصمت منه بعض يمان

So he upheld the sacred law and its rulings,

so some Yemenis sought protection from him [wording unclear].

يستعذب المدح لساني له

وربما مدح يمر اللسان

My tongue finds praising him sweet,

though praise can sometimes embitter the tongue.

بدر رفيع السنا

وابناه في أوج العلا فرقدان

A full moon of lofty radiance,

and his two sons are the Farqad stars at glory's zenith.

هذا علي المستهل الندى

اصبح والجود رضيعي لبان

This is Ali, showering generosity;

he and generosity have become nurslings of the same milk.

ما فيه منعيب سوى انه

له ولوع بالعلا وافتتان

There is no flaw in him, except that

he has a passion for eminence and a fascination with it.

خلق وخلق حسنا بهجة

ما أحسن الوصفين إذ يجمعان

Form and character, both beautiful in their splendor—

how lovely the two qualities when united!